thursday73

THE NEW FORUM IS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Since the inception of this website, we have gone through several forums. First we used Proboards. At one point, someone posted a topless picture and then someone quoted a website (text!!) and they deleted it. We eventually went BACK to Proboards, and after a while I discovered their 'customer service' was about as shitty as you could possibly GET! We went through several options and many types. At any rate, we now have a vBulletin forum which is what a lot of the BIG FORUMS on the internet use. The site--this one--is getting THOUSANDS of UNIQUE visitors daily now, so I wanted to make sure we had a great forum.

TECHNICAL: I spoke to a rep from the company I host this site through last week when I had the idea to purchase the license for the vBulletin board. I wanted to make sure it was okay that I host the forums on the server. He said sure. I also asked if they may be able to help me install the stupid thing, since there were some issues that came up while I was reading about vBulletin software. He kinda chuckled and said 'yes'. I offered some advertising to gather the money for the license, and upon securing that, bought the program and paid the year license fees. After that I downloaded the software.

Damn.

After downloading the stuff, I started reading the manual. I'd never felt more like an idiot! My experience with forums til then had been, you sign up, fill some stuff out, and start jammin'. NOT THIS TIME! I have NEVER seen more of a cluster eff than the instructions for this! I spent several hours just trying to get through the 1st few steps. I picked up the phone and called my server people. The guy asked for my password info so we could see the same thing at the same time. He asked a few people in the office what to do when he realized he couldn't do it either. After about 30 minutes, he said, "I'm sorry this is even over MY head."

ITS A FORUM FOR GOD'S SAKE!!

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I belong to a webmaster's forum, so I went there and asked. Some viewer PMd me and offered to install it. After about 15 minutes it was installed.

When I was a kid, I had a TRS-80 computer. Do you remember those?

That's the TRS-80 computer from like 1984. I cannot tell you how many hours I wasted in my room pecking out codes to get a smiley face in yellow! I was so deeply enthralled with it that my mother would have to come in and scream at me to get outside. Back then they had magazines that you could buy with codes in them to make your computer do certain things. Half of the time there was some problem in the code, so you'd spend 3 hours typing in the code JUST AS IT WAS SEEN IN THE MAGAZINE, only to have a syntax error or something even worse. I enjoyed that immensely and will never forget it. I just sat here staring at the TRS-80, remembering that time of my life. That thing wouldn't have the memory to hold what's on this page now...literally. Its truly amazing how far we've come with technology.

Anyway, I don't normally have a lot of patience, but for some reason when it comes to figuring out tedious computer stuff, I refuse to let it win - unless I absolutely don't know what's going on. I AM amazed though at how seemingly EASY a lot of stuff is for some people. A lot of you who know me, know how much I enjoy doing this website. So you should know when I say that we have over 8,000 unique visitors everyday, that THAT makes me happy beyond words. I adore making the site, the forums, the show, imaging, etc.

So what if I combined my love for the computer with radio to make a living? Hmmmmm . . .

So combining those two loves and interests would make me incredibly happy. A few weeks ago I got a call from Greg Sweet, who's a host's liason for BTR. We spoke the other day about my coming aboard in a fulltime capacity. Hopefully it will all work out. BTR was featured recently on Fox News Business, and their CEO Alan Levy was on talking about the website. They are gaining viewers and hosts faster than they know what to do, which is a GREAT thing.

It seems like a natural direction for most people, afterall, I knew people would eventually get tired of typing everything. (For blogs) They are really onto something. The website appeals to not only novices, but to people like me who've been in radio for a number of years. There is all sorts of programming, and enough that you could sit there for YEARS and never get tired. To host a show, you need a computer and a tetlephone. Or you can do like I do, and use a full setup. Either way, after you make a profile, you're ready to go and start hosting shows.

Another aspect of my forum is the ONLINE RADIO HOST SECTION. Its truly a SECTION. I have other ideas and will be putting some of those ideas into action. If you're a host, I can't tell you how great of a tool this will be if you WILL USE IT! You HAVE to use it though. If you're looking for a GUEST, we have that section. If you are wanting to talk about ANYthing related to broadcasting, there's a PLACE FOR IT. You can even promote your show for free. I'd like to have a nice, HEALTHY amount of members that are on that forum specifically for online radio host TOPICS! There's no other place online like it. Trust me, I have looked all over the place. Its free!

I cannot believe there isn't a forum or website that's dedicated to the art of hosting a radio program. Truly. There are many sites that do radio news, but nothing devoted to the actual working of DOING radio. Maybe that's why it sucks so bad?? How would you find out better how to DO a show if you'd never done one? Where would you go? Who would you ask? Before my career took off, I had NO ONE to bounce ideas off of, to ask about how to find good topics, where to find guests, what to do in certain situations, etc. I was blindly bouncing around until I found my own way and that took YEARS!

If you're a host and would like an opinion, advice, help, etc. I will be more than GLAD to help you. There are a few people that I talk to several times DAILY about radio, hosting, technical stuff, etc. One of them I think is ready to work in commercial radio, and she has never seen the inside of a radio station I don't think. It can be done.

If your aspirations aren't that high, which is understandable, and you just wanna be a good host online as a hobby or for other reasons, you can always improve. God knows I STILL look for ideas, direction, ways to break habits, etc. You can learn something from ANYone. Go over to the forums, hop in, and start sharing. If you'd like an honest opinion about a certain show, ask for it. People will be nice. The people I've met from netowrking on BTR, and there've been many, couldn't be more nice. Thank you for your friendship and I can't wait to get to know a LOT more of you!

www.kramersforum.com

Oil prices neared $146 a barrel Thursday for the first time ever on reports of declining U.S. stockpiles and the threat of conflict with Iran.

Comments by Saudi Arabia's oil minister suggesting his country had no immediate plans to boost production also lifted prices.

By midday in Europe, light, sweet crude for August delivery rose $2.28 to a record $145.85 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

On Wednesday, the contract set a new closing record for floor trade at $143.57 -- a full $2.60 above the previous close.

The latest spike means a barrel of crude has gone up by more than 50 percent since the end of last year, when oil was going for $96 a barrel.

$96 a barrel? DAMN! ONE YEAR AGO! Its only going to get worse. I seriously don't know how much more people can actually take.

Starbucks is closing over 900 stores. When people can't buy friggin COFFEE, we have some major problems, and as you know, people love their damn coffee! Major companies all over the place are laying people off. Some are soon cutting upwards of 10,000 jobs! How can we NOT be headed for a recession. This time it isn't just the media trying to hype something; its truly terrible. Here in the St. Louis area, there are several companies that are trimming back. I'd been looking for a job in the past few weeks. Back at the start of the year, where I'd hear from at least three people about future employment, I am hearing NOTHING now. Competing for jobs has never been tougher than it is right now.

Jacques spent 3 years in prison in the early 90's for sexual assault. After completing a course on learning how to cope with his desire to (pardon me for being blunt) BANG CHILDREN, he was released.

When is the Judicial system going to realize that pedophiles and sex offenders cannot rehabilitated. Sexually assaulting ANYone is crackers, but raping a young girl, torturing her both physically and mentally, and exploiting them in any way is grounds for death in my book. This son of a bitch should have been fried a long time ago. When someone is so warped that they would do this heinous stuff to someone, how in the HELL would someone REHABILITATE THEM? Its not possible. I am so very much in favor of the death penalty for anyone that sexually assaults a child. These people have no redeeming quality and certainly, in my opinion have nothing to offer society. They are a drain and will offend multiple times if they are not caught. Once they are caught, just end their lives and get it over with. There's no sense in waiting until the inevitable, another occurrence. Statistics show that most violent offenders, whether sexual in nature or not, will do it again. If we put them in prison for a few years and then let them back out into the World, what are we doing? We're setting predators right back out into their playground. The internet has done nothing than merely make it easier for these assholes to act out more often in the sadistic way.

Taking the innocence, or worse yet a LIFE from a young person is just about the worst thing imaginable. I hope he burns in Hell for the rest of eternity.

There is a topic about this on the forum. PLEASE COME OVER AND DISCUSS IT! Should sex offenders get the death penalty?Click here for the POLL and for the THREAD on the NEW forums!